Day 9 - The Girls Arrive in Calgary!

Late afternoon on July 4, the guys had arrived in Calgary.  With the opportunity to have a leisurely morning, they took full advantage of the free time.  Ron and Fred spent the morning chasing down the rental cars.  Stu took his bike to the local Harley Davidson dealer for a 5,000 mile service.  Not being able to stand having filthy motorcycles any longer, Joe and David headed for a wash bay.  The Calgary Stampede officially began at 9:00 a.m., with the Opening Parade.  Mike opted to experience the pageantry that begins the Stampede by heading downtown to see the parade.

Just two weeks ago, part of the downtown district of Calgary was flooded.  This included the area where most of the Stampede activities were to be held.  The Calgary Stampede gives a huge economic boost to the city.  The local government and businesses knew that Come Hell or High Water, the show must go on!  Everyone pulled together, cleaned up all of that mess and they were ready for the business of tourism.

Most of the girls were due to arrive on the same flight around 1:30 p.m.  Pat landed earlier in the morning thanks to creative schedule changes by the airlines.  Ron and Fred were at the airport to pick them all up.

Joe, David, Stu and Mike found a nearby florist.  All six of the men purchased this beautiful arrangement for Bonnie to thank her for the work on this blog.  It was a huge arrangement.  The gift was not necessary, but thank you very much.  I am enjoying them!  In addition to this arrangement, they purchased flowers for their wives too.  Nine days on the road has a way of making a guy miss his best friend.

On the first night of their arrival, the fellas had dinner a block or two away from their hotel at Ric's Grille.

They met this lovely young lady, Carrielyn,  who matched them quip for quip.  (Actually, she probably upped that game by leaps and bounds.  She was extremely witty.)  

Feeling a little jet lagged from the early start to their day, and hungry, the girls were in need of a snack and hydration.  Here they are at the nearby Ric's Grille.  The food is very, very good.  The staff is extremely friendly.  You've met Carrielyn!  

 David, Lori, Pam and Joe had dinner at a Sushi Restaurant then went to Ric's for a special desert - Cappucino Ice Cream with a cookie crust.

 Everyone in Calgary wears cowboy hats during the Stampede.  Boots and hats is where it's at!

Pam is fitting right in.

Ron and Bonnie

Stu and Jill

Everyone was on different schedules this afternoon.  Fred and Pat explored the area on foot.  They stopped at a couple of local establishments for nourishment along the way.  They were both caught in a major thunderstorm and were soaked to the skin.  No photos of Pat, I promised.  

Mike and Pam were missing in action.  We did not run into them last evening.

Following dinner, everybody headed in early for a good night's sleep.  They wanted to be in good form for a busy day tomorrow.

Day 8 - Whitefish, Montana to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 289 Miles Ridden Today. Total From Indianapolis - 2457 miles.

Mike, David, Fred, Ron and Stu before leaving Whitefish, Montana.
Today they will be leaving the United States for Canada.

Lucky for Stu, that Grizzly Bear is made out of fiberglass.

Mike liked the Elk.

 That was the plan.

 Let's hope the guys don't have any problems here!

They are getting closer to Canada!

Arriving at the border.

While going through customs, everything worked out just fine.

Stopping at the Visitor Centre is a must do. (Canadians spell some things differently than we do.)

The adventuresome six rolled up on this bad boy.  They just had to stop and check it out.

David, Joe and Ron just come half way up those huge tires.  All three of the men are 6 feet tall or more.

The Titan 33 - 19 is the biggest truck in the entire world.
That enormous truck can haul 350 tons at a time.  To help put that into perspective, it would take 17 quad-axle dump trucks to haul that much tonnage at one time.

 That yellow crop is Canola.

The scenery is just as beautiful here as it was in the United States.

 The guys could see this storm brewing.  They were heading right into it.  

Two different vehicles stopped and warned them about the heavy hail that was accompanying this nasty weather.  Heeding those warnings the group turned around, headed back and were able to skirt around the storm.  The only thing that they encountered was a little rain.

The Alaskan Adventurers have arrived in Calgary!

Day 7 - Great Falls, Montana to Whitefish, Montana. Distance today - 236 miles. Total from Indianapolis - 2,168 miles.

Shortly after leaving Great Falls, Montana the guys happened upon an area where they saw a large herd of grazing cattle.  Noticing this fellow leading his horse, instead of riding him left the group to wonder, "why?"

They discussed this back and forth over their helmet intercoms.  Nobody had a plausible explanation for this.

It was finally just decided that he was just giving his horse a break.

There are four of these statues, like the one above, at each of the four entrances to the Blackfeet Nation.  The artist that created them used materials that were available to him in the natural environment.   Each statue is made from scraps of automobiles, bits of barbed wire and stones from Holy Family Mission.  Each of the Native American Warriors are considered to be unique.  Each part of the statues and their bases are made from materials that are specific to significant events in Blackfeet history.

Scenery en route to Glacier National Park

At the entrance of Glacier National Park

 

The road in the very lower left hand corner is now hard packed dirt with some gravel on it. 

 This will be good practice for the adventurers travel in parts of Alaska.

That's David resting on that giant rock.

Fred has a bird's eye view of the valley below that stone wall.  Reynolds Mountain is in the background.

They reached the top!

Two Big Horn Sheep were hanging out at Logans Pass.  

Other wildlife viewing opportunities at Logans Pass are Mountain Goats and the occasional Grizzly Bear.

Big Horn Sheep doing some major league shedding.

This Mountain Goat is in a big hurry to be somewhere other than this parking lot.

Joe, Fred and David, half of the group enjoying the scenery and seat break.

Ron stops to check out the snow up on Logans Pass.  

Logans Pass, the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road  is located on the Continental Divide.  

The elevation here is 6,647 feet above sea level.  The area receives over 100 feet of snow per year!

The Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed in the winter.  The annual snowfall makes travel dangerous then.

Flags flying at Logans Pass were at hoisted to just half staff, in honor of the 19 fire fighters that lost their lives battling the Arizona wildfires.

       

The man on the right that Stu is posing with , is from California. They met this guy at Logans Pass.

 He is touring around solo on his motorcycle.  Mike thought it was a good idea for the two to stand side by side in order to compare mustaches.

The gentleman was very gracious with Mike's request and allowed the guys to make their comparisons.

After he departed their company, Stu explained that this man was sporting a beardstache.

 A mustache can only be grown from the upper lip.   Stu is correct, I looked it up.

This red and black vehicle is a 17 person limousine.  The vehicle was built in 1937 by the Ford Motor Company.   Between the years of 1999 and 2001, Ford brought each vehicle back to their plant in order to re-build each vehicle.  The national park owns a small fleet of these unique limos.

A close up, offering a better view of this 1937 limousine.

Ron getting a big bear hug at the Visitor's Center at Logans Pass.

 Pray Lake and Sinopah Mountain in the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park

Those pockets of snow are actually glaciers.

One of many waterfalls within Glacier National Park.

These photographs just don't do justice to the beauty of the area.

 David and Joe working their way up the mountain. 

Simply majestic.

Day 6 - Cody, Wyoming to Great Falls, Montana. 371 Miles Ridden Today. 1,932 Total Miles From Indianapolis, Indiana.

This morning the Iron Horse adventurers were heading to Great Falls, Montana.  They departed Cody, Wyoming by way of the Chief Joseph Highway.  Then they went west onto the Bear Tooth Pass.

David, Ron and Mike taking a moment for pictures at the start of the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

They are still in the state of Wyoming.

Here they are grouping up again after taking a short break for the photo opportunity.
This looks like another photo opportunity.  Check out Joe's helmet cam!  Looks like a Go Pro model.

Hey, they even have time for charades.
David is trying to describe the type of animal that he saw on the side of the road.   Must have been an ape.

What's this?  Is David giving Stu a playful hug?  Or is this the beginning of a choke hold?

Terribly early in the adventure for this.

Nah, they're just mugging for the camera!

After reaching the top, it's pretty amazing to see what you have just ridden.  Check out all of those curves.

  Can you imagine how loud that rushing water was?  Bet that water is ice cold too.

Bear Tooth Pass was opened to automobile traffic in 1937.  The road is 68 miles long.  Running in northwest Wyoming and southwest Montana it leads right into the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

The Pass runs right through an area referred to as the Bear Tooth Corridor.  This Corridor is surrounded by Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, Absaroka - Bear Tooth Wilderness and it butts into Yellowstone National Park.  

There are 20 peaks along the Pass that are over 12,000 feet in elevation.  Glaciers are found in many of the north flanks of those mountains over 12,000 feet.  The Bear Tooth Pass itself is the highest elevation roadway in Wyoming and Montana.

Heading towards Yellowstone National Park

It looks like they have arrived in Yellowstone National Park.  Well, at least Mike has.

Yellowstone National Park is ranked by National Geographic as the 4th most visited national park in the United States.  Ron, Fred and David pose for a picture with a park ranger.

Off in the distance a herd of Buffalo were spotted.
The guys reported seeing not only Buffalo, but Elk, a solitary Gray Fox, White Tail Deer, scads of Prairie Dogs and Antelope.  I am happy to report they did not see any Uncleope.

There he is.  Up close and personal.  As a matter of fact, that's close enough!



Sit back, enjoy the beauty and splendor.

























As the six exited Yellowstone, they entered Montana.







And, they were welcomed by this rustic sign.







Stopping for lunch at the Iron Horse Bar & Grille in Gardiner seemed like an appropriate choice.

Always wanting to be helpful, Fred cleans Mike's windshield during a fuel stop.
That enormous squeegee might be a little over kill.  The man in the car must be thinking the same thing.

That open country certainly has a way of making a person feel very small and insignificant.
There is no wondering why they call Montana, Big Sky Country.
The guys eventually completed the day's journey by reaching Great Falls, Montana.

Every evening, Ron makes notes of the day's trip and happenings.